Military Exercise Planning & Coordination Analyst

Spektrum; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Spektrum seeks an experienced advisor to support NATO Allied Command Transformation exercises in Norfolk, VA. The role focuses on capability development, requirements management, and operational planning for multi-domain exercises.

Candidates bring at least 5 years in military exercise planning and strong English proficiency; a bachelor’s or master’s in relevant fields is required. On-site work with potential travel is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, Defence/Strategic Studies, Political Science, Emergency Management, or related field; OR equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience in military exercise planning, collective training, or defence transformation initiatives.
• Proven ability to draft professional-level planning documents, reports, and campaign plans; proficiency with MS Office Suite and collaborative platforms.

Responsibilities

• Integrate Warfare Development and Transformation Priorities by assisting ECAB with integration of priorities into NATO exercise enterprise.
• Develop Future Warfighting Capability and Transformation Initiatives through Warfare Development in Exercises (WDiE) and related initiatives.
• Assess Exercise Outcomes and convert observations to actionable recommendations.
• Coordinate with NATO entities, partners, and external stakeholders; track and report on branch contributions to NATO guidance.
• Administrative duties: maintain records and provide progress updates to the Project Lead and COTR.

Skills

Organizational skills

Project management

Communication skills

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in International Relations/Defence Studies/Political Science

Job description

Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects.

Who we are supporting

Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is NATO’s leading agent for change: driving, facilitating, and advocating the continuous improvement of Alliance capabilities to maintain and enhance the military relevance and effectiveness of the Alliance. The main objectives of ACT are: providing appropriate support to NATO missions and operations; leading NATO military transformation; and improving relationships, interaction and practical cooperation with partners, nations and international organisations. ACT therefore leads Alliance concept development, capability development, training and lessons-learned initiatives and provides unfettered military support to policy development within NATO.

The program

Capability Development & Management Support (CDMS)

DCOS Capability Development (CAPDEV) acts as the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation's Director for guidance, direction and coordination of the activities and resources of the Capability Development Directorate.

The Requirements Division will execute all tasks and activities needed to support requirements management for NATO capabilities

The Capability Requirements (CR) Branch will develop the Capability Requirements Brief and recommended courses of action to resolve issues through the life cycle management of requirements using matrixed, cross-functional project-specific Requirements Management teams.

The Requirements Forward Branch (Mons) is responsible for conducting requirements development and management representation and engagement-related functions in Europe.

The Capability Division coordinates the development of capabilities from capability planning through acceptance and then disposal with management entities, NATO Headquarters staff and the NATO Governance Structure

The Capability Forward Branch (Mons) coordinates with ACO, NCIA, NSPA, NATO HQ, territorial Host Nations, and NATO Centres of Excellence (COEs) to support the development of capabilities.

Strategic Plans and Policy (SPP) supports Allied Command Transformation in formalizing military advice to shape future military strategy, political guidance, and other policy documents supporting NATO’s strategic objectives.

Role ID: ACT-CDMS-27-01-A-LC12

Role and Duties

Taskings:

Integrate Warfare Development and Transformation Priorities

• Support Warfare Development Integration by assisting ECAB with integration of Warfare Development priorities, Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) objectives, and future warfighting requirements into NATO's exercise enterprise through a coordinated multi-year programme of work.
• Support integration and governance by assisting ECAB with providing governance, synchronization, and strategic alignment across NATO's exercise enterprise.
• Participate in planning conferences, workshops, and coordination events, ensuring integration of warfare development themes and priorities.
• Assisting ECAB in the above tasks includes supporting the development, refinement, and documentation of exercise-related campaign plans, concepts, and supporting products.

Develop Future Warfighting Capability and Transformation Initiatives

• Support Warfare Development Exploitation by assisting ECAB in using exercises to identify capability gaps, refine concepts, assess emerging capabilities, and support future force development through Warfare Development in Exercises (WDiE) and Warfare Development Exploitation Teams (WDETs), including identification, refinement, and documentation of themes and candidate activities.
• Support Audacious Training (AT) and Innovation Integration by assisting ECAB in integrating AT Lines of Effort (LoE) (enhancing realism, leveraging new technology/innovation, and acting on lessons learned), AI-enabled capabilities, experimentation, innovation initiatives, and JATEC participation in NATO exercises.

Assess Exercise Outcomes and Convert Observations to Actionable Recommendations

• Support after-action review (AAR) and lessons-learned processes, drafting formal reports and recommendations.
• Contribute to the development of rolling programmes of work for WDiE and related initiatives.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Coordinate with NATO entities (e.g., SHAPE, JWC, JFTC, JATEC, JALLC), partners, and external stakeholders as required.
• Track, consolidate, and report on branch contributions to NATO-level guidance (e.g.,SACEUR’s Guidance on Education, Training, Exercises, and Evaluation (ETEE).

Administrative & Knowledge Management

• Maintain records, schedules, and document repositories.
• Provide regular progress updates to the designated Project Lead and COTR.

Additional Taskings

Directly support the Branch Head as required and represent ECAB at meetings andconferences both within and outside NATO boundaries, with anticipated travel requirements of up to 30 days per year.

• Perform additional tasks as directed by the COTR that are consistent with the assigned labor category and within the scope of this contract.

Essential Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, Defence/Strategic Studies, Political Science, Emergency Management, or related field; OR equivalent professional experience.

Minimum of 5 years’ experience in military exercise planning, collective training, ordefence transformation initiatives.

Technical Competence

• Familiarity with NATO exercise planning processes and documents (e.g., NATO Warfighting Capstone Concept, Warfare Development Agenda, Bi-SC Collective Training & Exercises Directive, SACEUR’s Guidance on ETEE).
• Proven ability to draft professional-level planning documents, reports, and campaign plans; proficiency with MS Office Suite and collaborative platforms.

Skills & Attributes

• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Demonstrated proficiency in English as defined in STANAG 6001 (Standardized Linguistic Profile (SLP) 3333 - Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) or equivalent.

Working Location

• Norfolk, VA

Working Policy

• On-Site

Contract Duration

• January 2027 – December 2031

Security Clearance

• Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance